Love Law
by Tekalali
Summary: Zack, the trainee lawyer. Cloud, the new server at Tifa's bar who seems to be hiding a few things. But Zack'll find out, even if it kills him, which it might if he's not careful.
1. Zack: Lets talk about me

Hello and welcome to chapter 1 of my new Zack/Cloud fan fiction 'Love Law' *applause* :P

Planning isn't finished but I'm hoping to make this quite a few chapters long.

Chapter 1 is none other than that loveable Zack Fair so please enjoy.

**Disclaimer: Zack and Reno aren't mine though it pains me to say so. All of the characters here belong to Square Enix but the story idea is mine.**

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"And I really need those reports before Friday… Zack, are you listening?"

Hey there. My name's Zack Fair; I'm twenty-six years old, six foot tall exactly, 180 pounds of rippling muscle with this awesome black, spiky hair and blue eyes. I'm also a pretty nice guy if I do say so myself, to top it off I'm self confident and charismatic, even if everyone else does say I'm just cocky. But hey, it's all part of the charm.

The guy who's talking to me, that's my boss and mentor Angeal, he's the one person who can handle my attitude without resorting to throwing something at me, and we work for the Shinra Law Firm; run by none other that Rufus Shinra, the most well know lawyer in… probably the world -this guy's legendary. Angeal? He's one of the next best along with Sephiroth and Genesis, they're pretty creepy guys.

Genesis spends a lot of his working day reading poetry, which is a bitch for his secretary Aerith, but when it comes to representing he knows his stuff, and being one of the best, he's not the kind of guy who loses his case. He's also the youngest looking out of the three, even though he's not, that would be Sephiroth, and he might be the youngest, but his looks and experience could sure fool anyone, it did me when I arrived, I think I actually laughed out loud, not the best idea in front of this guy.

Sephiroth is a complete workaholic -and has this crazy long silver hair, we say it's because he never leaves the building so he doesn't go to the hair dressers- and refuses to even have a secretary. I mean, even Rufus has a secretary, but Sephiroth seems to do fine on his own. We call him 'the General'. He has that sort of presence around the building, just don't get caught saluting him, or he'll fire you on the spot. I think Genesis and Angeal are the only two who don't see him as an intimidating person… Actually I don't either. Sure I look up to him as a lawyer and the way he works, but he's not a scary guy, I've seen him when he hangs out with Genesis and Angeal, he can actually crack a joke… well… he did once.

Angeal's the sane and calm one of the trio… unlucky for him that he got me as an apprentice, a hyper active prankster if there ever was one, but I don't think he could fire me, he's too soft, and I have the puppy dog eyes, gaining me my personal nickname from Angeal of 'Zack the puppy'. "Zack!" Oh shit, I zoned out.

"Yeah, I'll have the reports done." I responded and Angeal just sighed, probably as surprised as I am that I'd been listening.

"Go home Zack." he said and I nodded - more than happy to take the offer- and wave as I leave, sighing as I make my way to my car.

Ok, so here's the deal. I have a good job, making my way up the career ladder which will one day lead me to become a successful lawyer, hopefully somewhere close to Angeal. I earn good money, I have great friends, an awesome half sister and you know what?… My life… it kind of sucks. Seriously though, I'm surprisingly lonely for someone so good looking. I have a lot of love to give in this inflated ego of mine and no one to give it to. Odin knows I've tried. I dated, a lot of different people, I got so desperate to find someone that I started trying different things, it pretty much explained why I'd never found love in the direction I was going, and changed my life completely… Yeah, I turned gay basically. I found that out during a threesome with my now ex girlfriend and another guy. Figures.

But I don't do that crazy shit anymore. I was a curious and adventurous teen, but it got boring faster than you could say Ifrit. That's where my half sister entered the picture, -she's a few years younger than me since my mom and dad divorced and my mom re-married-, she gets kicks out of setting me up on blind dates. That's what I call awkward. But I guess I owe her one since that introduced me to my best friend; Vincent Valentine. Ironic name since he has the emotional capacity of a spoon. And I'm pretty sure if he ever saw Cupid, he'd shoot the kid in the face.

So here I am, making my way to my sister's bar, 'Seventh Heaven,' to drown myself in alcohol and bitch about my life… what? It's the weekend. By the way, my sister's name is Tifa Lockhart, of Tifa Heartless as I like to call her, since she goes through guys like a man would air; once they've served their purpose, they're cast aside as quickly as they were taken in, but I'm not going to judge her for it, she's still my sister after all.

"Hey Zack!" Tifa calls from behind the bar, waving and smiling as usual. Vincent's already sitting with his first beer and I join him as Tifa leans in and hugs me, revealing even more of her cleavage through her low cut top and I send death glares to the drooling customers who are getting more than they paid for, and soon a black eye to go with it.

"Hey Tifa, Vincent," he nods at me and I sit down, Tifa passing me a beer before walking down the bar "how's your day been?" I ask and he just shrugs at me, which is normal for Vincent, he's not much of a talker unless something interests him.

"Same as ever, Reno almost lost every case file the company computers have. Tseng almost had a heart attack, as well as nearly firing Reno." I laugh. Vincent's part of Shinra too, but he's in a different department, along with a few of my other friends Reno, Rude, Elena and Tseng.

"But he does that at least once every week. Tseng must really have a soft spot for such a knuckle head." I said and Vincent shrugged. This was a common event, I'd sit and occasionally spark a conversation with Vincent and glare at the drooling men sitting at the bar, tonight didn't seem like it was going to be anything special, there was a smash of a glass which was pretty normal too -we're in a bar after all- so I ignored it.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" I heard one angry customer say and sighed, looked like I might end up being the bouncer again tonight.

"S-sorry." I turned around to see the commotion, -though I wasn't entirely sure why, probably because a fight would normally ensue rather than an apology,- it sounded like some underage kid was getting hassled, and I'm not the type to just let that happen, what do you think these muscles are for anyway? -Apart from intimidating the guys perving on my sister.

What I saw though. Completely surprised me.

There was a guy, about three inches shorter than me with bright blond, gravity defying hair which almost made up the lost height, he had a thin frame, from what I could see from his sleeveless t-shirt he was toned and his pale skin clashed with his black top. His head was down as he picked up shards of glass from the table then crouched onto the floor while the customer glared down at him for spilling his beer. "Zack," I looked round at Tifa who had also been staring at the scene and she handed me a cloth, "be a darling big brother and go help him please."

I complied without a complaint, this guy looked cute, but more importantly, I didn't want to see some drunk guy try to start a fight with him, it's not like he didn't look like he could protect himself or anything! I just had an urge to protect him… or something… I'm getting cheesy aren't I? "Let me help you with that," I said as I started cleaning up the spilt beer.

"Thank," he said while he collected the glass and put it in the cloth once I was finished.

I stood up, the customer was a round man about an inch or two smaller than me and not nearly as muscular and when I glared at him he promptly turned away mumbling under his breath. I scoffed and turned back to the blond who had finally stood up and was brushing himself off. "Thanks for your help" he said but I couldn't find the words to say back. He looked straight at me with the must wonderful blue eyes I had ever seen, and I was stunned to silence, and if Reno was here, he'd probably say the world was going to implode or something… because nothing makes me silent for more than about a second.

"No problem." I rushed out, sounding like an utter idiot and I mentally kicked myself, I mean I'm Zack Fair! I'm pretty much known for being a smooth talker and this guy totally threw me off balance.

"Excuse me." he mumbled and dropped his head as he walked away, bringing me back to earth. I tried to reply but couldn't get the words out of my mouth quick enough before he was gone. So I sighed and walked back over to the bar where Tifa had a full blown smirk on her face.

"Cat got your tongue?" She said as I sat down and handed her the cloth and I pulled a face as she giggled.

"New in town?" I asked. Tifa knew everything about most of the people around here, the bar was a great source of information for her.

"Yeah, he moved here last week." Tifa giggled again and smiled brightly. She always knew I was interested in someone when I started asking questions about them, then she'd usually set me up on another date, I wouldn't be surprised if she tried it again.

I looked over at the guy as he stood and spoke to Yuffie, one of the servers at the bar and a thought hit me that he probably wasn't gay. I always hear the saying 'the cute ones are always taken or gay' well, it's often the other way around for us.. The gay part anyway.

I grimaced and turned back to stare at the bottles behind the bar, glancing at Tifa as she flirted with another customer and rolled my eyes -saying anything to her now was pretty pointless. I found myself taking another glance at the blond, who was standing with his back against the wall to the right, facing the bar, and my heart shot to my throat as I caught those gorgeous blue eyes look my way before quickly looking away and a pink blush appear on a perfectly pale face, and I smirked happily, looking back at the bar as I finished off the beer I'd had since I sat down before saying good night to Vincent and Tifa and leaving Seventh Heaven.

Don't worry, I'm not encouraging drink driving or anything, I actually live literally around the corner, and I keep my car parked outside the bar instead of driving it there, I'm not that lazy. I walked into my apartment and took off my shoes, promptly falling on the couch and stretching out, my legs hanging lazily over the end as I flicked the T.V on. It didn't take long for my phone to ring. I took it out of my pocket and looked at the message from Tifa:

IZack, could you help me clean up tonight please? Be here in about an hour. Love you./I

I sighed and flicked my phone back down. Having Tifa ask me to help out was a common occurrence for me on a weekend, and she's my sister so obviously I'd help out. Besides, if I'm helping it means Vincent had successfully escaped when he was asked.

I walked back into the bar when I was told and looked over at Tifa who was standing with the other server Yuffie since they were all made to clean up once the bar was shut. "Thanks Zack I really appreciate it." Tifa smiled at me and I waved it off carelessly. "Where's Cloud?" she wondered out loud as she scanned the room.

"He spilled beer down his shirt so he went to change," Yuffie answered and Tifa rolled her eyes as the staff door opened and the blond from earlier appeared in the room. "All set Cloud?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah," the blond answered. So he was Cloud huh? Well at least I have a name to go with that pretty face, and he works here. Guess I'll be seeing a lot more of him. He looked over at me and blushed again, probably remembering what had happened when I caught him last time and I couldn't help my grin.

"Zack, can you clean the tables and stack the chairs for me?" Tifa asked me and I saluted her lazily.

"You got it sis," I said, and grabbed a cloth from behind the bar before walking over to the nearest table.

"Cloud, grab the mop and clean the floors please." I heard Cloud shuffle over to the storage room and the door closed behind him. "Yuffie, can you clean the bar and refill the fridges, I'll get Zack to change the kegs with Cloud later." Usually I'd complain about the command, but if it got Cloud talking, then it wasn't such a bad thing.

Everything went pretty smoothly, Tifa was standing at the now clean bar counting her profits from the night and everyone else had finished their work, I was just waiting for the last command. "Zack, there's two kegs that need changed downstairs, can you take Cloud down and show him what to do please?" Tifa asked, not looking up from the paper in front of her.

"Sure thing sis," I said and the blond followed me through the staffroom to another door leading down to the basement. "So," I said as we removed the first empty keg, this things were heavy, but nothing I wasn't already used to, I'd been changing these things for about four years. "You're the new server, is this your first day?" I asked, even though I knew that it was since I was here almost every night, but I was hoping for a conversation, I had no idea what this guy was like, if he was the silent type or not, and if so then I had a challenge on my hands.

"Yeah," he answered, and I waited for a more detailed explanation as we put the new keg in it's place and moved onto the next one. "Tifa was kind enough to give me a job. Though it doesn't look like I'm any good at it."

"Don't worry about it," I said, smiling as we walked back towards the stairs once the last keg was attached and the old barrels placed out of the way, "everyone has a bad first day, you probably did better than a lot of the last servers, Yuffie's the only one who's survived yet for a while," I laughed and my heart fluttered as a tiny smile graced his features, it was extremely cute. "I hope you stay kid," I said, clapping him on the shoulder, because honestly, he looked no older than nineteen, making me hope I was severely mistaken, and by his scowl, I'm guessing I was.

"Not a kid," he said and I grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, you don't look older than about nineteen, guess I shouldn't have presumed." He seemed to forgive me which was a relief.

He sighed, "I'm twenty-three, and I get that crap all the time." Wow. I was going for twenty-one, but hell, I'll take it.

"Must make you popular with the young ladies," I said with a laugh and he rolled his eyes but gave a small amused smile anyway.

"Unfortunately yes, unlucky for them that I'm not interested." That could mean three things; one, he's gay, two, he goes for older women -or men if I'm lucky- or three, he was already taken. Three sounded the most probable.

"Oh really? Who's the lucky girl?" I asked, and if I was right in my suspicion I'd give up on trying to win him over and just settle for flirting, because even though I would never try to steal someone away from another person, I don't think I could leave this guy alone.

"Cloud, come over here for a sec would you?" Tifa said as we both emerged back in the bar again and Cloud gave me one last glance before walking over to stand with Tifa. "You did well for your first day, a few spills here and there but you got through it, and I'm happy to officially welcome you to the team," Yuffie whooped as Tifa handed Cloud the 'initiation badge' as we like the call it. It's basically a badge to clip onto the uniform shirt with the bar's logo on it, something Tifa had forced onto every server since she opened the bar.

"Congratulations," I said with a grin and he gave another small smile. After that Tifa told us all to go home, and though I'd usually stay back I was beat and desperately needed some sleep, so I said my good nights before walking away. I took a deep breath when I walked out onto the street, if there was one thing I liked about leaving that bar so late at night was the cold air in my lungs after the smell of so much alcohol, I turned towards my apartment, a pair of car headlights immediately catching my attention and I watched curiously as Cloud climbed into the rather expensive Mercedes.

Now there's a question, why was someone who was obviously somewhat well off -by the looks of that car anyway- working in a little bar like Tifa's? I guess I could ask the next time I see him, whenever that was, I didn't even know his shifts. I sighed, making my way back home and collapsing once again in front of the T.V, and again my phone started ringing.

"Hello?" I said, rubbing my eyes and looking up at the clock on the wall, it was almost 11:30 already.

"So what do you think?" Of course it was Tifa, she's the only person who would call at this time of night, -except that idiot Reno of course- and since I didn't hang around I should have known she'd call.

"Looks like a fighter, he might actually survive," I said, relaxing back into the comfort of my sofa.

"You know what I mean Zack I saw you checking him out, and no one's ever managed to shut you up like that before," Tifa giggled, knowing full well that she was right and there was no way I could deny it since she had all the evidence and witnesses.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Is there something wrong with me finding the guy attractive?" I'd ask this every time, because if there was Tifa knew that I'd give up on them, she always seemed to know when I was going for the wrong guys, and she was also always right about them.

"No, from what I've heard about him he checks out fine though no one seems to know much about him yet, but this one's for you to chase I'm not setting you up this time." That kind of surprised me, Tifa would always demand to set me up if the guy 'checked out' ok. "I'm not even sure if he's gay, so good luck," she laughed again.

"Thanks Tifa," I said sarcastically but grinned.

"Good night Zack, and could you be a dear and go shopping for me tomorrow? I could really use the help since it's Saturday and I'm busy all day."

"Sure Tifa, just write me the list and I'll be there in the morning, good night," I said and flipped my phone down when she hung up. Tomorrow would be another long day, and shopping was always a drag, not that I'd say no to going though.

"Cloud huh?" I leaned back to stare up at the ceiling as his face invaded my mind, those eyes were still so shockingly clear, and I smiled before finally getting up and heading for bed, at least I'd get a chance to see him tomorrow if he was working. "Lucky for me he picked Tifa's bar," I laughed, changing and finally dropping myself onto my bed, curling up for a well deserved nights sleep.

VII Cloud P.o.V VII

"You're home, brother will be pleased." This is where my nightmare begins again, and I don't think anyone can get me out of this. For once I could be myself and it was over so fast.

"He wants to see you."

I want to be myself again.

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**A/N: This little bit here ^ is a little intro/taster into chapter 2 I'll be doing that in every chapter in this story.**

**So I hope you liked the chapter, I like 1st person PoVs lol.**

**Anyway I really appreciate any reviews they help me with my writing drive, anyone who reviews will be written in a list at the end of the last chapter because you're all so awesome.**

**So again ENJOY AND REVIEW!**

**Thanks. Kit~  
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	2. Cloud: And this is my nightmare

Chapter 2 is here, yes I've noticed it's taken almost two months to upload I'm not impressed with myself either.

Anyway, more planning has been done but it's not finished yet, should be before chapter 3 ^^

Enjoy! Chapter two belongs to the one and only Cloud Strife

**Disclaimer: I wouldn't mind a Reno to be honest, until then the characters aren't mine but the story idea is.**

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After everything that had happened tonight being told I could go home was probably the most depressing thing Tifa could have said to me, "have a good night Cloud and I'll see you on Sunday," she smiled at me as I walked towards the exit and I waved back, I didn't really want to say anything because I knew I'd try and convince her to let me stay or ask for the day to work tomorrow, both of which would wind up with me having to explain eventually.

But I haven't even introduced myself yet. My name is Cloud Strife… for now. I'm twenty-three years old, 150 pounds and about five foot nine inches, my hair's pretty wild, and bright blond, which doesn't help me blend into the background very well. I'm on the slim side too, but I know self defence, even if I don't get to use it when I'd like to… and I'm engaged.

Sounds nice right? You have no idea how many people have said 'congratulations' or 'that's wonderful' or 'you must be so happy'. Not one of these people can see how trapped I actually am. I don't want to get married, believe it or not this entire thing was arranged, and it's a good thing I'm gay or else this would never have gone down the way it did. Or at least I wish I could say that, but either way this marriage would be happening, my father had forced it on me since he'd lost all of his money by gambling it away and had a debt to pay to my… fiancé's family.

His family owns a huge shipping business, my father was stupid enough to ask his 'old friend' for a loan once he'd squandered the money from his own business on gambling and drinking. The condition was that once I was old enough I would marry his son since I had no sisters, and he would get the business we owned for himself. My father accepted of course being the addict and wreck that he was, and so here I am.

I've tried everything I can to get out of it including running away and attempted suicide once. Nothing worked though, so I decided to live my life the way it has been fated.

I have to admit though today was different from every other, because for once I was myself, and I was surprised that that could happen so easily. -That probably sounds a little stupid right? People always act like themselves and all that. You'd be surprised just how good I am at pretending though.- He was the first person to ever make me feel so relaxed, and he helped me. Noticed me for someone other than just the shadow of some much more intimidating people. Then again he knows nothing about me. Not like I'm going to tell him either, no one wants to know about me, and I don't want to tell anyone, because once someone knows who I'm with, what my name will be, I'm shunned. Who knows what he'd think if he knew.

"You're home, brother will be pleased." I said nothing to the man in front of me, he had short silver hair, and he was muscular, more so than I am, and I knew from experience that he packed a punch. His name was Loz, one of the three brothers I was confined to seeing every day. They reminded me just how much of a prisoner I was.

"He wants to see you." Now it was the second brother, a much thinner man with long hair, his eyes piercing cold as he opened the door to a much worse person. Yazoo opened the doors to the new study, in another new apartment, and I felt the urge to run. The urge I felt every time I was here, but now I felt like I had a reason to run, even if I did keep walking towards the desk. I wanted to run to see Zack again.

I want to be myself again.

It was silent as I stood at the desk, my body drained of all emotion once I'd walked in to see _him_. The thought alone was enough to bleed me dry of every happy feeling I'd ever had. He stood up, walking around the desk to stand in front of me and lift my chin with his cold, thin fingers, kissing my lips with a knowing sneer that I hated it. That I hated him.

This was my fiancé, his name was Kadaj, and he was probably the cruelest man I had ever met. I could deal with being hit by Loz and Yazoo, but when it came to Kadaj… everything seemed to hurt that little bit more. Then again he'd never hold back.

"Did you have a good first day at work?" he asked, that sneering grin always present as he spoke, keeping my chin in place so I had to look into those icy eyes, and I nodded, taking slow, shallow breaths to keep myself from saying something stupid, I'd learned that speaking was the worst thing I could do. "What was that? I didn't quite catch it," he sneered.

"Yes Kadaj, I had a good day," I said, my voice as hollow and lifeless as it always was.

"That's good. It would hurt me to see my future husband unhappy." We both knew he was mocking me, because I don't think he wanted this marriage just as much as me, though it wasn't half as suffocating for him. "I'm sure you're tired, you should get some rest," he said, stroking my cheek, I'd also learned not to flinch away, or else I'd be getting a much harder contact between my cheek and his hand.

I know you wouldn't think he thought the same about this marriage considering his actions, like kissing me, but those are the things that make it worse. He does it because he doesn't want to be with me. Like he's punishing me by acting like he wants to be with me. And it is punishing me, because it's an excuse for him to hurt me if I reject him for any of it.

The door was opened to the study by Yazoo again, and Kadaj let me go so I could walk away and to my room, though it was far from a relief. Loz and Yazoo didn't need to pretend to be nice to me. "So _brother_, you're in one piece, what a shame, and here I thought I'd picked just the right place for you to work." Yazoo sneered at me, and I said nothing.

I already knew that he'd picked that place on purpose, I was clumsy, and small, so what better place for me to work than a bar, where I would be hated by the staff for breaking glasses and costing them for more alcohol, and where I'd be hated by the customers for the same reason, not to mention I wasn't exactly intimidating, starting a fight with me wouldn't be trouble for them. Today was the prefect example of that.

Though I can't say it was all bad. I did have help, and if I'm honest, I'm happy where I am, not like I'll tell those two that I'm accepted at Tifa's bar though, they'll take me away from that place in a heart beat if I do that.

"Good night brother, don't forget your errands for tomorrow," Loz said, closing the doors to my room and I was finally left alone, though not totally happy. They both knew I had no idea what errands I was running tomorrow, just as long as they got to punish me in some way for making a mistake while I was out. But I'd found a system now, and I'd be sure to find out in the morning what I was going out for.

I sighed anyway, my room was big, and held the one thing I cherished that was actually mine. It was my piano, and I was happy that it was the one thing those three couldn't do anything to. As it was, it was insured for a lot of money, and since there were only the four of us who could access this bedroom they couldn't touch it because I'd know it was them. I bet you're thinking they could deny it right? Well, thanks to my previous escape plans I have a camera installed in my bedroom, so there would be solid proof if any of them decided to cause any harm to it.

I sat down in front of the piano and sighed, letting myself finally relax, I'd gotten used to the constant tension I held when I was around those three, and my shoulders went lax as I breathed out, happy to be alone again. My fingers passed delicately over the keys and I closed my eyes, playing the music that had been burned into my mind since I was a child, and I revelled in the fact that the camera in my room had no sound so Kadaj wouldn't hear me play. I didn't like to play for anyone anymore, unlike when I was a carefree child, no one was important enough anymore, especially not in this place.

My thought drifted to my new friends. I was worried about what would happen if Kadaj found out I was happy at work, but for now it didn't worry me too much, the bonds were still weak between myself and the others, but I was desperate for them to grow stronger.

I found myself, eventually, thinking of Zack. He was so kind to me, made me smile, and it made me want to see him again now just to feel happy again. I stopped playing with a sigh, opening my eyes to my lonely room. It was dimly lit, and for how elegantly it was decorated it felt so.. cold. Nothing in here was mine. But then again neither was my own life. Just some twist of fate that was leading me somewhere I never would, and never wanted to belong.

I stood up, stretching my now stiff back and shoulders and walked across the room to change. It was well after midnight by now, and I already knew Loz and Yazoo would wake me up early for my 'errands'. I sighed, the idea already made me want to run away again. But I guess I'd deal with it in the morning, because nothing made me happier than proving to those two that I was worth something.

*******

"Time to get up," I blinked my eyes open sleepily at the sound of Yazoo's voice as the curtains were abruptly drawn open and the light dazzled me, stinging my eyes. "You have an hour to prepare yourself before leaving," and with that the two left me alone, and as much as I wanted to go back to sleep I dragged myself up and out of bed. I had already learned the hard way that sleeping in would only end up in pain.

Once ready I checked my watch, fifteen minutes to find out what I was going out for, and I prayed that the cooks had some kind of information for me or I was doomed. I was in luck, the cook we had had been around since I had, and knew my situation so was always happy to help. "How can I help you Cloud?" she asked with a sweet smile like she always did.

"Lucrecia, can you help me, I'm not sure what I'm going out for today," I asked and she nodded, pulling out a list and handing it to me.

"I saved a little time, I was told yesterday that they were sending you out again and this gives you a bit of time," she said and I smiled gratefully.

"You're a lifesaver Lucrecia thank you so much," I slipped the paper in my pocket to look through once I was alone.

"Any time Cloud, I'm happy to help," and I smiled and waved goodbye to her.

"You should leave," Loz said once I emerged from the kitchen, and I gave a small nod, making my way to the door for a long, but hopefully successful day.

VIIVIIVII

"Hey," I greeted, and I was without a doubt shocked. "Fancy meeting you here," ok I could definitely have said something better than that.

"Yeah."

"Do you want to grab some coffee with me?" You're loosing your cool Zack! Way to be forward!

… Please say yes.

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**A/N: I didn't really leave much for myself so it's not long lol I've got to stop complaining about the length of my stuff lol.**

**I feel bad for Cloud.**

**Kill me for the Kadaj/Cloud D: but there's a reason to it promise.**

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**

**Kit~  
**


	3. Zack: Shopping Annoyances

Took me another 3 months but here's chapter 3 and I'm still not entirely sure how this one's going to go D:

Take it away Zack!

**Disclaimer:**** Rufus is too scary for me to confront about taking Reno with me, I need to think about this one. The characters therefore belong to Square and the story idea belongs to me.  
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I have three words to start this off…

I. Hate. Mornings.

I'm not a morning person, despite my usual cheery personality, seeing me being woken up by a blaring alarm clock at 9a.m is not the prettiest sight. Not to mention I now have to buy another clock since I've just propelled the previously beeping one off the bedroom wall where an array of small dents have appeared, inflicted by the corners of my clocks- may they all rest in peace.

I grumble, a scowl fixed onto my face and my brows furrowed, my normal array of black spikes now sticking up profusely in almost every direction, so much so that someone may as well have stuck my hand in a plug socket while I was asleep.

Now my phone's ringing, which means Tifa's ready to face my morning wrath, though she was used to it by now bless her soul. The only other person to have received my blunt anti-morning force was Reno. He knows never to call me before midday on a weekend again. "Hello?" My voice was groggy, and cracked with my dry morning throat -I hadn't drank anything since that beer last night.

"Morning big brother." Oh, and Tifa has this 'being sweet to Zack in the morning so he'll go shopping for me' thing, and she does it pretty well. Reno should learn it. "Have you got the list?"

I rolled my eyes, having this 'phone and making coffee' multitasking business down to a tee, no one say men can't multitask! "Looking at it now," I said after putting the kettle on and picking the paper off the table, scanning it and scoffing when I notice 'alarm clock' written on the list. "You know, even though you're my sister, sometimes it just freaks me out how well you know me." She giggles on the other end of the line as I pour the water into the cup with the coffee granules and for the only time during the day I drink the coffee black. Don't ask me why I do, or _can_ do that. Any other time drinking black coffee makes me sick, the stuff's way too bitter, I think it's because my stomach's still too asleep to notice I'm drinking it. Also I can't drink milk in the morning. It's weird.

"Well someone's got to look after you," she said and I laughed only because she was right.

"Yeah, yeah. Just leave everything to me I'll be back before you know it," I smiled, though obviously she couldn't see it, but I know she knew I was doing it.

"Ok, thanks again Zack, I'll see you later."

"See you Tifa," I flipped my phone shut and sighed, everything was quiet again and before I could give it a chance to set I moved from the kitchen and into the living room, switching on my CD player as I went and grinning at the rock music. Silence really wasn't my thing.

After getting dressed -and frowning at my half cup of cold coffee before pouring it down the sink- I picked up my keys, phone and list, heading down to my car and towards town for a long day of shopping.

*******

I immediately pressed my fingers against my temples once there. Too many people in such a small street and I didn't want to be here in the first place. Tifa better be grateful for this, not to mention I just saw someone my senses were telling me was going to bug me all the way around these god forsaken shops. "Yo Zack!" Dammit, I didn't even get the chance to plan out my escape route.

"Hey Reno," a little unenthusiastic but he was used to that by now. I mean, I like the guy, he's one of my best friends but hell he knew how to talk. Not to mention he's dating Rufus Shinra and trust me that's a relationship you _do not_ want to hear about.

"Tifa got you running errands again?" He laughed and I nodded.

"As always, it'd be nice to have a day off once in a while." It was more than likely he was going to mock me for this. As Reno would say Tifa had me on a leash, but she's my sister, why would I say no to helping her? The answer to that would always be some crude comment about me being too submissive and that would affect my relationships. I beg to differ.

"I noticed you have your collar on today that's why I asked," I deftly flipped him off and started walking, but not without Reno tagging along. "I'm bored."

"You always say that, I think you just want to spend time with sexy ol' Zack," I smirked and he rolled his eyes as usual. Trust me this isn't flirting, the very idea makes both of us cringe if not vomit depending on what is said.

"Are you kidding me? If Rufus wasn't at work I'd be out of here in a flash spending some quality time with him."

"Don't want to know Reno." See what I mean? After all he does own the entire corporation, when I think of looking up to his as a professional I never imagined Reno being there like two love birds. Remind me not to think that again, my stomach can't take it.

"So what is it today? More alcohol, food, underwear?" I gagged at the thought and punched him in the arm. Hard.

"That's my sister you ass," I warned him as he rubbed his sore arm, making me grin at the thought of causing him pain, he deserved worse than just a punch in the arm but I don't want to get arrested for public violence, even if it would be Reno who would bail me out. "If you're going to tag along just keep your mouth shut or I'll make you carry this stuff back with me and tell Tifa what you've been saying about her."

He gave me a confused look, "I've been insulting you, not her."

"But Tifa doesn't know that, and of course she'll believe her dear big brother over your sleazy ass." That shut him up much to my relief, at least for a little while.

"Look Reno you're going to make me gag you and push you off a cliff any second so why don't you save us both the mess and sod off." A little brutal? Maybe, but there's something I failed to mention earlier, Reno and I have known each other for… twenty years?! Oh god now I feel old _and_ depressed.

"That's ok I gotta run anyway my quality time starts soon."

"Reno, Jesus dude I said I didn't want to know."

"Oh I know, I just like to see you squirm," Reno smirked and I sighed, why I put up with this guy I'll never know. My attention pulled away from Reno, hoping he would just go away, but as my eyes scanned the crowd something drew my attention which I didn't expect to see today. "Hey Zack, finally die on your feet?" I heard Reno ask me but I didn't respond, there was a familiar blond in my sights and I hadn't actually noticed I'd stopped still until the pest beside me brought it to my attention. "Oh, nice blond maybe I've been looking at the wrong guy these past few years."

Yeah, that grabbed my attention alright. "Back off," I warned him but he only smirked at me.

"Whatever man I'm leaving anyway, have fun fishing," he waved as he walked away.

Ok so I didn't tell him to back off for the total fact that I liked this particular blond, more for said blonde's best interests. I know what Reno's like. Maybe I should say hi. Looking at him he seemed unhappy, even stressed and before I knew it I was walking towards him, it seemed my body didn't want my mind to lend a hand right now. "Hey," I greeted and he was without a doubt shocked, it seems he expected to see me just as much as I expected to see him here. "Fancy meeting you here," I continued after a gruelling silence though I definitely could have said something better than that.

"Yeah," he replied, thankfully, I was worried he was just going to all out bale on me or something. Though a little more enthusiasm wouldn't have gone a miss.

"So you're shopping too huh?" I asked, though that was obvious considering he was holding a good number of bags in his hands. Why was I being like this anyway? It wasn't like me to get so nervous and these definitely were nerves doing this to me. "Are you still busy shopping?" I asked after he nodded. Where are you going with this Zack? I don't know what's going on and I'm your mind.

"No, I'm finally finished," I could tell he was relieved by that and it made me smile a little.

"Do you want to grab some coffee with me?"

…Say what? Did I really just say that so straight out? Well great. Good going Zack you're loosing your cool! Way to be forward!… Please say yes.

"Sure," his small smile was sweet and made my heart skip as I grinned back at him.

"Great, lets go."

VIIVIIVII

Why won't my heart stop racing?

"So you're pretty new around here, if you ever need a tour guide I'd be happy to help you out," no one's ever smiled at me like that before.

…He changes everything.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah... next one will be more interesting.**

**I write too many coffee scenes :/**

**Cloud's turn next. (:**

**Thanks for reading and please review! 3**

**Kit~  
**


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